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The ox with one horn.

It’s the 60’s, a farmer from a town of near La Morra works with his ox. His only ox, on that only has one horn.

Decades later, the “poor” man who had to write down all the necceary information related to the purchase of land that was suitable for wine making asked Mr Oddero Giacomo if he could please send them by fax from his pharmacy. At the time Mr. Oddero did not have a fax machine, so he went out and went to the nearest bank and asked if they had one he could use to receive the fax, but not even the bank had a fax machine.

Yes, the poor farmer who years earlier crossed the Langhe hills, supported by the aid of his poor ox with one horn, today finally has a fax machine.

At the beginning of September, Cantina Social was a honored to be a guest at Cantina Oddero for the presentation of the 2006 vintage, Barolo Vigna Rionda.

The event provided interesting insight into the Cru Vigna Rionda site in Serralunga d’Alba, which in our opinion is one of the areas with the greatest potential in the Barolo valley; then followed the presentation of the book “Oddero, A Historic Italian Winery”, which focused on the history of the winery, and finally, “last but not least”, we got to see a true film about Oddero, shot in Santa Maria La Morra by the director Zanichelli.

The pleasure of the evening was getting to know and hear about the next 90 year-old Giacomo Oddero, a person who knows how the world of wine has changed and grown over the decades. It was a great opportunity to learn more about a wonderful story that speaks not only of grapes, vines, vineyards or wine but also about territory and the passion and genuine love for what it offers the earth. All this was told through the story of a family, reliving the nostalgia and speaking about former times, overcome by difficulties, difficulties “not so much like those we live today, today we are doing okay. Now, we are no longer those farmers with ox with one horn.”

Imagine taking a time machine, and traveling back to 1878, and learning about how the peasants of the time fought to preserve the identity of their wine, or to jump to the first world war and know that the grandmother of Mr. Giacomo Oddero, offered food and wine to the Austrian prisoners hoping to do the same with Italian prisoners in Europe.

“We are all equal, there is no distinction of nation, race or religion, we are all the same country, these wars should not happen.”

Italy’s history passes through the vineyards as well, from the countrysides that were abandoned after the war, so people could to go to work in the City, in nearby Turin, where the were “better” jobs, to those who stuck it out and kept working the hard land, and also thanks to the photographs collected by historians and inhabitants of La Morra Santa Maria. All of this allows us to relive a long and important history.

These are the stories we feel proud to learn about and play a small part in.

The hard times are gone, the future is bright, indeed, through the daily work of the family and their entire team, who work in the shadows but are nonetheless extremely proud of their work, but it is above all thanks to the efforts of past generations, generations that had undoubtedly believed in this historical moment and have left us with their greatest legacy: their example!

Vigna Rionda Riserva 2006 is a very complex wine with powerful tannic structure and a great potential for aging, not surprisingly, the family decided to wait a few more years, to give time for the wine to truly bring out its best character and traits.

In our opinion, it is a must-have in your private collection. It’s a wine that is definitely ready, but will still express a lot in the years to come. Prod. 3000 bottles.